CASE STUDY
We know about
end of life
care
In Glasgow, the service
reduced the time patients spend in hospital by shifting resources to better support people in their own home or another place of care.
North Glasgow and Lothian
Getting people home with the support they need The fast-track discharge service in North Glasgow is a partnership between Marie Curie Cancer Care, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and other local providers. It has benefitted almost 300 people with palliative care needs since it began in 2012. It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Health Service Journal Care Integration Awards. Meanwhile, Lothian’s fast-track discharge service has reduced patient deaths in acute settings, with only 3% of patients dying in hospital. The challenge To align end of life care in North Glasgow with the objectives of Scotland’s palliative care plan Living and Dying Well: Building on Progress (2010), services needed to: • provide quality coordinated care without the duplication of services • support carers at times of crisis or change • follow a best-practice model that could be replicated. The Living and Dying Well in Lothian strategy required the region’s services
to support more patients in community settings; especially people at the end of life with a non-cancer diagnosis. But difficulty organising discharge packages and complexity of care needs were compounding delays in transferring people to their preferred place of care. The service solutions The fast-track discharge services in North Glasgow and Lothian help terminally ill people spend their final weeks at home rather than in hospital or a hospice. The services facilitate patients’ safe and timely discharge from hospice or hospital to their homes, as well as providing a short package of care post-discharge. In Glasgow, the fast-track discharge liaison nurses are based at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Marie Curie Hospice, Glasgow. They assess the patient’s care needs, make discharge arrangements and organise support for the period immediately after discharge. A team of senior Marie Curie health and personal care assistants are also available to support patients for up to three days. The service also takes referrals to prevent avoidable admissions of patients with palliative care needs to hospital or hospice.
CASE STUDY
Only 3% of patients supported in Lothian died in hospital.
North Glasgow and Lothian
The Glasgow fast-track discharge service is funded by the Reshaping Care for Older People Change Fund. In Lothian, the service follows a similar structure with a Marie Curie discharge liaison nurse working with hospital discharge teams to get patients home. Support at home is longer – up to seven days post-discharge. Both services offer general nursing care including symptom control, personal care, and emotional support.
District nurses in Glasgow have confidence that patients are being cared for by a
trusted provider.
Contact servicedevelopment@mariecurie.org.uk mariecurie.org.uk/commissioning
Service benefits In Glasgow the service has: • improved patient and family experience by providing emotional support at a stressful time • helped carers to cope better and increased their confidence in caring for loved ones • reduced the time patients spend in hospital by shifting resources to better support people in their own home or another place of care given district nurses confidence that • patients are being cared for by a trusted provider In 2012/13, 121 patients were discharged home from Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Marie Curie Hospice, Glasgow and 29 admissions to the hospital or hospice were prevented. In Lothian: • Our patient and carer survey showed that patients now spend more time with their loved ones in the comfort of their own homes. They also rate the support positively and feel they are treated with dignity and respect.
Charity reg no. 207994 (England & Wales), SC038731 (Scotland) S276f_Casestudy_Glasgow&Lothian
• A recent service review showed
that only 3% of patients supported between November 2011 and October 2012 died in hospital, achieving the service’s aim of supporting terminally ill patients and their families at home and reducing deaths in acute settings.
“Our North-East Glasgow fast-track discharge service, in partnership with Marie Curie, continues to demonstrate that we can identify and offer patients a choice in where their palliative care needs can be met. The fast-track service supports patients and families with palliative care needs in their own home by providing a service which meets both their health and social care needs. People at end of life who wish to die at home are enabled to do so thereby reducing length of stay in acute beds.” Lorna Dunipace, Head of Primary Care & Community Services, NE Sector, Glasgow Community Health Partnership “At a traumatic time they made us feel supported and cared for. I cannot tell you how important their help was. It was like being in the care of angels. I will never forget it and hope that if I ever need this help then it will be there for me and those I love too. The highest quality care at the most difficult of times, Marie Curie’s fast-track service is the Rolls-Royce of care.” Morag Robertson, sister of Elizabeth who died in 2012